Amy Walter to Keynote WHA Advocacy Day 2017 on April 19 WHA Launches Physician Quality Academy
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February 3, 2017 Volume 61, Issue 5 WHA Launches Physician Quality Academy Doctors’ role important in leading quality improvement projects Physicians have an important role in health care quality improvement projects in their organizations. Their clinical expertise and leadership are valuable assets in designing and conducting initiatives known to improve the quality of patient care. While physicians are often asked to lead quality improvement activities, they may not have access to the resources they need to be successful. In response to this need, the Wisconsin Hospital Association (WHA) created the WHA Physician Quality Academy for physicians employed by its member hospitals and health systems. “Quality improvement initiatives are powerful tools for making sure evidence-based practices make it to the bedside and are performed consistently,” according to Robert S. Redwood, MD, MPH, and faculty for the WHA Physician Quality Academy. “As physicians, quality improvement empowers our profession to use population health data to better inform our individual patient care.” The WHA Physician Quality Academy will bring physicians together from across the state who can then collaborate and build on their QI knowledge. The Academy will support physicians by providing face-to- face education opportunities, as well as additional resources, to learn the newest tools and principles that lead to successful initiatives known to improve quality in hospitals, clinics and other care settings. “WHA is a recognized national leader in offering our members the support and training necessary to help improve the quality and value of care for their patients,” according to WHA President/CEO Eric Borgerding. “The vast majority of physicians in Wisconsin are either closely aligned with or employed by hospitals and health systems, and their role in leading quality improvement is constantly expanding and (continued on page 8) Amy Walter to Keynote WHA Advocacy Day 2017 on April 19 Registration now open! Each year, the WHA Advocacy Day event grows both in number of attendees and in the impact made on our legislators in Madison. Advocacy Day is one of the best ways hospital employees, trustees and volunteers can make an important, visible impact in the state capitol. Help make the 2017 event a great success by assembling your hospital contingent for 2017 Advocacy Day, April 19 at the Monona Terrace in Madison. Registration is open at www.cvent.com/d/svqylc. As always, WHA Advocacy Day 2017 will have a great line up of speakers, including morning keynote Amy Walter. Known as one of the best political journalists covering Washington, D.C., Walter is national editor of the Cook Political Report and the former Amy Walter political director of ABC News. Over the past 14 years, Walter has built a reputation as an accurate, objective and insightful political analyst. She is a regular panelist on NBC’s Meet The Press, PBS’ Washington Week, and Fox News’ Special Report with Bret Bair. She also provides political analysis every Monday evening for the PBS NewsHour. (continued on page 2) Board Chair: Catherine Jacobson, President/CEO, Froedtert Health Editor: Mary Kay Grasmick, VP Communications - [email protected] 5510 Research Park Drive P.O. Box 259038 Madison, WI 53725-9038 P (608.274.1820) F (608.274.8554) www.wha.org Continued from page 1 . Amy Walter to Keynote Advocacy Day 2017 on April 19 The annual legislative panel discussion will round out the morning session, followed by a luncheon keynote address from Gov. Scott Walker (invited). The highlight of Advocacy Day is always the hundreds of attendees who take what they’ve learned during the day and then meet with their legislators in the State Capitol in the afternoon. In fact, over 650 visits were made last year that directly impacted the outcomes of priority legislation. Speaking up on behalf of your hospital by meeting with your legislators during Advocacy Day is essential in helping educate legislators on your hospital and on health care issues. Join over 1,100 of your peers from across the state at Advocacy Day 2017 on April 19. More information and online registration is available at www.cvent.com/d/svqylc. For Advocacy Day questions, contact Jenny Boese at 608-268-1816 or [email protected]. For registration questions, contact Kayla Chatterton at [email protected] or 608-274-1820. Jacobson Appoints Subcommittee on ACA As Congress and the President move toward repealing and replacing the ACA, WHA Board Chair Cathy Jacobson, president/CEO, Froedtert Health, has appointed a special WHA Board Subcommittee on Health Care Reform. The Subcommittee will assist WHA in staying well informed and responsive to developments in both Washington and Madison. In appointing the Subcommittee, Jacobson recognized that several Cathy Jacobson Mike Wallace Wisconsin federal and state elected leaders will play a key role in developing the details of an ACA replacement plan. “WHA has been a leader for our industry, and this Subcommittee will help us navigate the path forward in working with our elected officials on behalf of our organizations, communities and patients,” she said. The new Subcommittee will be chaired by Immediate Past WHA Board Chair Mike Wallace, president/ CEO of Fort HealthCare. The group will be comprised of WHA Board members from across the state. The Subcommittee will meet periodically as circumstances dictate while health care reform unfolds at both the state and federal level, providing input and guidance to the WHA staff and Board as needed on policy developments and advocacy related to ACA replacement, Medicaid funding/block grants and associated implications for Wisconsin and WHA members. “We remain in a dynamic and uncertain time in health care, and it is important that the WHA team have all the tools necessary to engage and be impactful,” said Eric Borgerding, WHA president/CEO. “This new Subcommittee will help in that effort.” WHA Post-Acute Care Work Group Organizes; Focuses on Access Readmission penalties, bundled payment programs and other payment and quality initiatives are making hospitals increasingly responsible for patient outcomes after they are discharged from the hospital. The WHA Board responded to this trend by directing the establishment of a Post-Acute Care Work Group, which held its first meeting January 30 at the WHA offices in Madison. The Post-Acute Care (PAC) Work Group will explore Laura Rose, WHA Vice President, Policy Development; how hospitals and health systems can work to improve Greg Banaszynski, WHA Post-Acute Care Work Group outcomes for discharged patients and how best to provide Chair or locate post-acute care for patients who need it. (continued on page 3) The Valued Voice -- Page 2 -- 2/3/17 Continued from page 2 . WHA Post-Acute Care Work Group Organizes; Focuses on Access Members of the work group are: • Greg Banaszynski, CEO, UW Health Rehabilitation Hospital (Chair) • Andy Anderson, MD, CMO, Aurora Health Care • Jennifer Bieno, NHA, Vice President of Aging Services, Divine Savior Healthcare • Rick Bourne, President/CEO, Home Health United • Margaret Donnelly, Vice President, Post-Acute Care, Aspirus • Paula Elmer, RN, CNO, Monroe Clinic • Deb Head, Rehab Program Manager, Gunderson Health System • Doreen Kluth, Executive Director, Care Continuum, HSHS • Charisse Oland, CEO, Rusk County Memorial Hospital • Bonny Range, CNO, Holy Family Memorial • Ryan Shear, Vice President, Senior Services, Reedsburg Medical Center • Robyn Treder, Manager, Hospital Case Management, Children’s Hospital of Wisconsin • Lois Van Abel, Director, Care Coordination, Bellin Health • Thomas Zoch, MD, Ascension At its first meeting, the Work Group identified a number of issues affecting post-acute care, including: serious workforce shortages among health care professionals who are key providers of PAC, including nurses, CNAs, primary care doctors and therapists; job burnout and inadequate pay for front-line PAC providers; the regulatory burden at both the state and federal levels; Medicaid reimbursement rates for PAC that are among the lowest in the country; the need for clear criteria on selecting quality post-acute care providers and how to help patients choose a discharge option that will provide the best outcome; and, the need for clear data on what is effective in providing post-acute care. The Work Group will meet within the next few weeks to further focus the issues surrounding post-acute care, with the goal of developing a package of achievable policy initiatives aimed at improving the ability of hospitals and health systems to provide or locate post-acute care for their patients. WHA Meets With Delegation about ACA “Treat expansion and non-expansion states in an equitable manner” The Wisconsin Hospital Association traveled to Washington, D.C. Thursday, February 2 for a round of meetings with Wisconsin’s congressional delegation. The sole purpose for the trip was to advance the Wisconsin perspective on changes to the Affordable Care Act and what those mean for Wisconsin’s patients and providers. “This is about treating Medicaid expansion and non- expansion states in an equitable manner,” Eric Borgerding, WHA president/CEO said in several of the meetings. “Our request is that Wisconsin’s so-called ‘partial expansion’ of Medicaid, which added nearly 130,000 childless adults at a cost of roughly $280 million in state dollars, also receive WHA discusses ACA repeal and replace impact on enhanced federal matching dollars.” Wisconsin with U.S. Speaker in his U.S. Capitol office. Left to right, Jenny Boese, WHA VP, Federal Affairs At issue with proposals to repeal and replace the Affordable & Advocacy; U.S. House Speaker Paul Ryan; Eric Care Act, as Borgerding discussed in all the meetings, is Borgerding, WHA President/CEO. the unique route Wisconsin took to reduce its uninsured by some 38 percent since 2013. This was accomplished by Gov. Scott Walker and the Wisconsin Legislature through an interconnected approach whereby individuals below 100 percent of the federal (continued on page 4) The Valued Voice -- Page 3 -- 2/3/17 Continued from page 3 .